The Worst Job That a Doctor has to Do!
by islashlove
Summary: After treating the injured from a fire in a fireworks factory, Jesse has to deliver some bad news to Mark. But when Mark refuse to accept what he is told and what he can see is the truth, his friends fear the worst. And that worst is that Mark is going crazy with grief. Warning: An out of character, Mark Sloan and possibly dark themes
1. Is to Tell a Father, Their Son is Died

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is from Diagnosis Murder. **

**Warning: An Out OF Character, Doctor Mark Sloan and possibly some very dark themes. **

**Beta: Yes, I would like to say thank you to my Beta jerseybelle**

**Author's Notes: ****This story is the response to a one word challenge from the Facebook group Fanfiction .net Writer's Unite. The word this week is Fireworks****.**

**Story Notes: After treating the injured from a fire in a fireworks factory, Jesse has to deliver some bad news to Mark. But when Mark refuses to accept what he is told and what he can see is the truth in front of him, everyone fears the worst. And that worst is, Mark Sloan is going crazy with grief, but is he?**

**The Worst Job That a Doctor has to do!**

**Chapter 1: Is to Tell a Father, Their Son is Dead.**

The ER had been hectic. The number of injured had outweighed the number of hospital staff three to one, which had left people tripping over each other's feet and Jesse had been in the middle of it all.

The fireworks factory on the edge of town had caught on fire and workers and rescuers alike, had been brought in. Never in his job had Jesse seen so many different injuries caused by the same thing. Most had been simple burns, others cuts and scrapes from trying to escape, but unfortunately, some hadn't got out alive either.

It was because of one of these last victims that we find Jesse wandering down the hallways of Community General heading to Mark's office.

Mark had been in surgery when the ambulances had arrived and was still there when the last body was brought in and Jesse himself had taken it down to the morgue and to Amanda.

He could still see the devastation in her eyes when she realised who it was. She even offered to go with Jesse to tell Mark, but Jesse wouldn't let her. He needed to do this himself. So when a nurse told him that Mark was back in his office, Jesse hugged Amanda and left.

Standing outside Mark's office door, Jesse took several deep breathes to calm his nerves. Knocking, he waited for Mark to tell him he could enter. No matter how long it could have taken for Mark to answer, it would not have been long enough for Jesse because he really didn't want to enter, but he did.

"Jesse, is something wrong?" Mark asked confused at why Jesse knocked instead of just entering.

"Mark, I...do you know that we had a rush on the ER earlier?"

"I heard that you did. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes please. You see, I..." Jesse looked down at the floor as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"You knew some of those that didn't make it?"

Jesse just nodded his reply. He knew if he said something right now, he would lose it. Finally looking back up, he was seeing Mark through tear filled eyes.

"Sit down, Jesse," Mark said as he, too, sat down. Jesse did as he was told. "You know that in the ER you are going to see people you know go through there. After all, how many times has it been Steve and you know that sometimes that you're not going to be able to save them all

"I know that, Mark, and it's not anyone that comes in and that was lost afterwards. It was one that come in already..." Jesse turned his head away, no longer able to look at Mark's, compassion filled face. "They were the last to come in and I even took them down to Amanda myself and..."

"Jesse, were you close to this person?"

"Yes," Jesse said looking back up at Mark. "We all were. Mark, I'm...so sorry. It was...Steve."

Jesse watched as Mark's face changed. Not to shock or horror like he expected it to, but to anger.

"Get out, Jesse!" Mark shouted.

"Mark, please..."

"How dare you came in here and joke around like that. It's not funny." Mark was now standing over Jesse and Jesse was scared. He knew that Steve is Mark's son, but did he really think that he would joke about Steve dying. "I said get out!"

Jesse scrambled out of Mark's office and away from his friend. He had never seen Mark that angry and that worried Jesse even more. He ran, tears falling down his eyes, until he reached the morgue and Amanda.

"Jesse?" Amanda said when she saw the fear in Jesse's blood shot eyes.

"Mark...he...thinks I'm lying, that...I'm making some sort of sick joke. He's angry, Amanda. Angry at me and I ..."

"Jesse, it will be fine." Amanda put a comforting arm around Jesse's shoulders and walked him into her office. "Just rest in here. We just need to let Mark calm down."

"Okay," Amanda gave Jesse one more tender pat on the back before she returned to her work.

It wasn't too long before Mark walked in. Amanda could see that he was still angry and had a hauntingly lost look in his eyes.

"Mark, I'm sorry."

"No, not you too, Amanda. Please, tell me this is a joke." But Mark could see in her eyes, the same look Jesse had in his and Mark knew it was him, not them, that didn't want to believe it was true. "Can...can I see him?"

"Mark, I...I'm waiting on Chief Masters to arrive."

"Why, what for?"

"Because she thinks your son might have been murdered."

Mark turned around to find Chief Masters standing there. He then turned back to Amanda.

"Amanda?"

"I've found evidence that Steve might have been stabbed, but because I'm so close to him, I've requested for the crime labs to send down their own to do the autopsy. I'm sorry, Mark, I just can't do it and risk..."

"It's alright, Amanda; but can I still see him?" Mark turned back to Chief Masters. "Please?"

The Chief Just nodded and Amanda walked over to the drawer with Steve's body in it and as she went to open it, Jesse exited Amanda's office to see what was happening. But when Amanda pulled the drawer out, they all got a shock at Mark's next words.

"That's not Steve."

They all stared at him. There on the drawer was Steve's body.

"Mark..." Jesse started to say, before Mark cut him off.

"That's Harry, Steve's twin!"

The silence of shock filled the air of the morgue and thoughts of _'if this is Harry, where's Steve'_, filled their minds.

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	2. Is this Steve or Harry?

**Chapter 2: Is this Steve or Harry?**

Everyone was shocked at Mark's words. Never had Mark or Steve ever mention that Steve had a brother, let alone a twin. Amanda was the first to recover.

"Mark, honey! Are you alright?"

Mark looked at Amanda. She could see confusion and relief in his eyes, but not sadness. Why isn't he sad? Even if this isn't Steve, it was still his son. She watched as he took a deep breath.

"Yes, yes, Amanda, I'm fine."

"Doctor Sloan." Chief Masters' voice seemed so distant. "I'm sorry to ask this, but...how do you know that this isn't your son, Steve?"

"Because it's Harry."

"Mark, if Steve and Harry are twins and identical twins at that, how do you know that this one is Harry and not Steve? I mean, I don't want it to be Steve, but...?"

"I just know, Jesse. A father just knows." Mark looked back at Harry's body, before walking over to the drawer. "Harry, I never got to know you and I'm sorry about that," Mark said to the body that was lying there. He then turned to face Chief Masters. "Chief, you will find who killed Harry and where Steve is, won't you?"

"We will do our best, Doctor Sloan. Doctor Bentley, I need a full autopsy and blood analysis done."

"Of course, Chief Masters," Amanda answered. She was confused; except for...whoever was in the drawer, she was the one that knew Mark the longest and in all those years, never did Mark or Steve mention that Mark had another son.

"I've got to go and do my rounds," Mark suddenly said. "Amanda, can you please let me know what you find?"

Amanda didn't get a chance to answer, because Mark was already out the door.

"Well, that was strange."

"Yes, Jesse, it was. Chief Masters, do you want me to run a DNA test as well?"

"And dental check and ring me with the results before anyone else."

Amanda nodded her understanding and then Chief Masters also left. "Do you want to help me, Jesse?" Jesse looked at Amanda with eyes wide open. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Swallowing, he nodded at her. "Good, you can draw the blood." she said handing him a very big syringe.

Amanda went over everything. The hair, every inch of skin, noting every mark on the body. Some of the wounds were fresh; after all, he had just been caught in the full force of an explosion. But from what she could see, every mark on the body matched those that Steve had.

With every second that passed, with every test, it looked like this wasn't Harry on the slab, but Steve. After all, what's the chance of this Harry having the same marks on his body that Steve had. It was nearly impossible.

It was a good two hours before she was ready to put the body back in the freezer. Now all she needed to finalise her report was the toxicology and DNA results, but Amanda had a funny feeling she was sure what they were going to say and that it was her friend Steve who was in the freezer.

Amanda was right, the DNA test results were conclusive and it was Steve.

"A...Amanda," Jesse's voice sounded scared.

"Yes, Jesse."

"I did a check."

"A check? On what, Jesse?"

"On Harry or rather the fact that there is no Harry."

"What?"

"Mark and his wife only had two children, Steve and Carol. Steve wasn't a twin and there were no other kids."

"I'm not surprised. The autopsy and all the test results says that this is Steve, too."

"But, Mark, he...he was so sure."

"It's the grief, Jesse. Mark's mind won't let him believe that Steve is dead, so it made up another son. One that he wasn't close to."

"I know that make sense, but at the same time, so stupid. What can we do for Mark?"

"We just have to wait and be there for him when he is ready to accept that Steve is dead."

"Steve is what?" Amanda and Jesse turn to find Mark standing in the doorway. Anger, burning in his eyes. "That's not Steve in there, Amanda," Mark said as he pointed at the freezer. "It's Harry."

"Mark, I checked, there was no Harry born. Steve was your only son."

And the test results all ..."

"I don't care about what the reports have to say or your tests, Amanda. That is not Steve and if you won't look for him, I will."

The two stunned friends just stood there as Mark stormed off. They had never see Mark like that before. Amanda just hoped that they wouldn't lose their good friend to the madness that grief can sometimes bring.

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	3. Alone With His Thoughts

**Chapter 3: Alone With His Thoughts**

Mark sat in the darkness of his office at the hospital. He was angry at Amanda and Jesse for what they had said. He was worried as to where Steve was and if, with Amanda's report, anyone would be looking for him.

_'Why? Why can't they listen to me about Harry? I'm not mad and yes, I can see why they are confused, but they had always trusted my judgement before. So why would this time be any different.' _Suddenly Mark is brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his door.

At first he was going to tell whoever it was to enter, but right now he didn't want to see anyone, so he closed his mouth and stayed quiet. He could hear whoever it was shifting around outside the door. After the third knock, Mark heard Amanda.

"Mark, I know you are in there. Look, I'm sorry, but you know I have to follow the findings and they all point to it being Steve in my lab. Please, if you have anything, anything at all, that could change the results, tell me. I don't want it to be Steve either. Please, just talk to me."

Mark didn't move, he wasn't sure if what he had to say would make any sense to her anyway and it was evident she had already made up her mind.

"Mark, please ..." After trying the handle and finding it locked, Amanda left.

Mark let out a silent sigh. Turning on the desk lamp, he started to fill in the application to take time off. Once Amanda's report was done, no one would be looking for Steve and Mark couldn't have that and he would do whatever he had to do to find Steve.

"Well?" Jesse asked as Amanda walked back into the lab. She just shook her head.

"He's in his office, I'm sure of that, but he wouldn't talk to me. I guess we just need to give him some space."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Jesse. Everything says that this is Steve, but Mark...he is so sure that it isn't."

"What's your gut feeling, Doctor Bentley?"

Turning, both Jesse and Amanda found Chief Masters standing in the doorway.

"To be honest, Chief Masters, I don't know. Mark has never been wrong before, but this time, I...I really don't know."

"Then follow the evidence and give me the report to that fact."

"Does that mean that Steve is officially dead?"

"For now!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means, Doctor Travis, unless something else turns up, we treat this as we see it. Someone murdered Detective Steve Sloan and we need to find his killer. But if, for some reason, more information comes in and tells us that, in fact, that isn't Detective Sloan, we will then follow where the new evidences will take us."

Both doctors nodded their understanding before Chief Masters walked out. Amanda then went about finalising her report and Jesse headed out to finish off his rounds. He just hoped that if they have lost Steve, that they haven't also lost Mark, as well.

Mark stood in front of Doctor Madison Wesley and handed her the form.

"Mark, What's this?"

"It's my application for time off, so I can go out and find my son."

Madison could hear the anger in Mark's voice. Somehow it didn't sound right. She had heard about Steve and of course, she was going to give him time off, he needed it to grieve. But, WHY he claimed he needed it off, worried her.

"Mark, I know how close you and Steve were and ..."

"WERE? Don't you mean that Steve and I ARE close? Steve isn't dead. That is his brother in the morgue and I'm going to find Steve and prove that."

"Mark, I ..."

"If you won't give me the time off, you can consider that application as my resignation letter." And before Madison could say anything Mark stormed out of her office.

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	4. Four Friends Talk

**Chapter 4: Four Friends Talk**

That evening found Jesse, Amanda, Madison and Chief Masters sitting around a table at BBQ Bob's.

"Mark really said that?" Jesse asked with his eyes wide open in shock.

"I'm afraid so. If I didn't give him the time off, which I was going to give him anyway, Mark said that I could consider the application for leave as his resignation letter. I just didn't know what to say, but then again, Mark didn't give me any time to reply anyway."

"Ok, disregarding all the evidences that says that it is Steve in my lab and if there is no record of this Harry, how can Mark be so sure that it's not Steve."

"Because, if Steve was the first born and Harry was second, but a stillborn, the hospitals back then didn't always keep the record of the dead child. Especially, if the parents requested it."

The three doctors just stared at the Chief of Police.

"How do you know that?" Amanda asked, voicing the thoughts of the other two at the table.

"I worked a case when I was younger. A suspect swore, black and blue that he hadn't killed anyone. Turned out, he had a twin, but he knew nothing about them. It took a lot of investigation to finally get the truth from an old retired nurse. Apparently, they would fake the death of a twin and have the parents not report the birth of the child they had thought they had lost. The child was then taken to the other side of the country and adopted out, for a very nice fee."

"And you think this might be what happened to Mark and his wife and where this Harry comes from?" Madison asked, shocked that anyone would do such a thing.

"It's possible," Amanda whispered. "It was found out not that long ago, children from England that were thought to have been killed in the war, but were found alive and living in Australia. They had been told their parents were dead and the parents, if they returned to get their children, were told that the child had died."

"But, why didn't Mark just tell us?" Jesse asked, sounding a little hurt that Mark didn't trust them.

"Maybe...Jesse, he feels guilty. It's an easy guess that somewhere along the line, he found out that Harry was alive and well...you know how proud Mark is."

"You're right, Amanda, but we still have the problem of all the evidence pointing towards that being Steve in the morgue," Madison added.

"Whoever set this up, Doctor Wesley, knew what they were doing and all it would've taken was to get their hands on Steve's medical history," answered Chief Masters.

"What do we tell Mark?" Jesse asked hoping that Mark would forgive them all for doubting him.

"Nothing!"

"What!" Jesse said as he slapped his hands on the table in front of him. "How can we leave Mark thinking we doubt him?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor Travis, but we can't risk Doctor Sloan knowing what we think is going on here."

"Why not?" Amanda asked, as she too was just as confused as Jesse.

"Because we think that the person or persons that are doing this might go after Doctor Sloan as well and ..."

"And you want Mark as bait," Madison added.

"Yes, we are hoping that they may go after him and lead us to Sloan and the others that have gone missing over the last six months."

"That...that's just wrong."

"I need you to promise me, Doctor Travis, that you won't tell Doctor Sloan what's going on."

"I ..." Jesse's looked at the faces that was looking at him and with a heavy sigh he said, "I guess so."

And with that promise, Chief Masters went over what the police knew and what they had to do to try and keep Mark from harm.

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	5. Harry is Harry, but Where is Steve?

**Chapter 5: Harry is Harry, but Where is Steve?**

After storming out of Madison's office, Mark headed for the morgue. After making sure that Amanda and Jesse weren't anywhere to be seen, he slipped in and pulled out the drawer with Harry's body on it.

Reaching out, Mark pursed when his hand brushed against Harry's hair. Swallowing hard, Mark shook his head and reminded himself that this wasn't Steve. Carefully, he tilted Harry's head and looked behind the right ear. He was right. This is Harry, not Steve. Steve never had the birth mark behind his ear. Harry's was just like his mother's, shaped like a small heart, on the back of the ear lobe.

"Harry, I'm so sorry, son. So, so, sorry that this happened to you. You never did have an easy life and if I or your mother could have done anything differently, I'm sure we would have, but we had no other choice but to give you up. Maybe...maybe I made a bad choice by keeping you a secret, but I just couldn't tell Steve that his mother and I gave up his twin brother. I just couldn't and because of that, you and Steve never meet and now, now everyone thinks I'm going mad with grief over Steve's death and I still can't tell them the truth. I'm so ashamed of what I did to you, but I feel even worse about what I'm about to do, but it can't be helped."

With that, Mark moved Harry's body onto a gurney and wheeled him out of the morgue. With the body covered up and the nursing staff use to seeing Dr. Mark Sloan do some strange things no one stopped him. Not even when he wheeled the gurney out of the hospital and into a waiting ambulance. Mark then drove off. He didn't know where Steve was, but he was sure Harry's body would hold the answer. He just prayed he wasn't too late.

Amanda, Jesse, Madison and Chief Masters sat silently watching as the security footage showed Mark walking away with the body. Amanda just couldn't believe mark would go to these lengths as to steal a body to prove himself right.

She had come in early to go over her findings yet again, just in case she had missed something, anything, but was shocked to find Steve's, or Harry's, body, missing. Amanda went straight to the main security room and viewed the tapes.

She couldn't describe how shocked she was to see Mark, her mentor and friend, doing what he was doing. At first she called Jesse, who, after viewing the footage, called Madison. To protect Mark's reputation Madison then took the tapes to her office and from there they called Chief Masters in.

Even after seeing the footage four or five times, Amanda and Jesse still couldn't believe what they were seeing. Madison paused the tape as it showed the tail lights of the ambulance pulling away. Shaking their heads, Amanda and Jesse turned to face Madison and Chief Masters.

"What now?" Jesse asked, as he glanced back over his shoulder at the paused picture.

"We need to go over all the details you have, Doctor Bentley," Chief Masters replied.

"Fine, but I don't know what it's going to tell us!" Amanda said as she placed the file on the desk.

"I don't know Mark well and Steve even less, but are you sure there isn't anything that wasn't...Steve?" Madison asked as he laid out the pictures and files on the desk for everyone to see.

"I don't know," Amanda replied shaking her head as she picked up her report. "The body was badly damaged so a lot of the scars and Steve's birthmark were destroyed. I could only go on the injury to his left temple where he was hit a few weeks ago. I did find something strange in his blood work though. It was like, some of his cells had been fused together, but I just put that down to the heat of the blast he was caught in."

"Cells...that had been fused together?"

"Yes, Doctor Madison, the cells were fused together, why?"

"It might not be because of the heat, but rather from the cold."

"You mean...like the body had been frozen." Jesse added as he got where Doctor Madison was going with this.

"Yes, Harry could have been dead for weeks, kept in a freezer and then thawed out. It could have easily been Steve that entered that building and ..."

"And he was kidnapped from the inside and Harry's body was placed in a spot to take the full force of the blast," Chief Masters finished off.

"So then Mark was right, Steve is most likely alive," added Amanda. "But then again, I still can't dismiss the fact that everything points to that being Steve in my lab."

"Not everything," Jesse said. They turned to find him holding the autopsy report.

"What do you mean, Doctor Travis?" Chief Masters asked.

"Here," Jesse took out one of the photos. "I've treated Steve so many times that I know every inch of his body and this heart shaped birth mark on the back of this ear lobe…Steve's never had one. At least not there," Jesse continued as he pointed to the mark behind Harry's ear.

"I guess I've never gotten that close to Steve to see it before. So this is the proof we needed to prove Mark isn't mad?" Amanda asked looking straight at Chief Masters.

"It still means that Doctor Sloan could still be in the line of fire. Especially if he can prove that's not Steve."

"But there is a good chance that Steve is still alive, too."

"How do you figure that, Jesse?" Amanda asked.

"Well, who would go through such lengths to fake the death of a dead man? Nobody! But, they would fake a man who is very much alive but that they don't want people looking for them."

"That's why Doctor Sloan needs to think he's the only one who thinks that Sloan is alive. If these people know that others are on to them, they will kill Sloan and we will never see him again."

Even though Amanda and Jesse didn't liked it, they had to agree that Chief Masters was right and for the sake of Steve and Mark, they had to keep it to themselves.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	6. Steve

**Chapter 6: Steve**

Steve shivered from the cold. He didn't have any idea how long he had been there, but it felt like days. From what he could hear, he was in some sort of basement. Tied to a chair, gagged and blindfolded, he couldn't do much but to listen to his surroundings.

To his right he could hear water dripping. It was a steady drip and the sound it made as it hit the concrete floor, told him that it had been dripping for a long time and since it was all he could hear, it was slowly getting to him. If he hadn't been gagged, Steve would have sung or talked to himself, just to break the silence and to block out the dripping, but he couldn't.

_'Drip, drip, drip.'_

_'God, I wish that dripping would stop,'_ Steve thought shaking his head. Then, trying his best to get the annoying sound out of his head, he went over what he could remember. _'We had been called out to a fire at the fireworks factory. We had all gone in to pull people out and …'_

Steve could see, smell and hear it all: the fire, the smoke, the heat, the smell of burning flesh and the screams. Then the smoke cleared for a second and he saw a man slumped over some boxes. He reached him, rolling him over and then Steve froze. Lying there, at his feet was...him. It was now he felt something hit him on the head and knock him to the ground.

Suddenly there were hands grabbing him and he remembered thinking it was his fellow officers or a fire-fighter, but when they started to take off his breathing apparatus and protective clothing, including his pants and boots, Steve knew something was wrong. Trying to stop them, he was hit again on his head and in his dazed state, he watched as they dragged him away, dress the person that looked like him in his clothes and repositioned him over the boxes and setting them on fire.

Outside, whoever they were, pushed Steve into a waiting van and drove off. Hearing an explosion, Steve guessed that the situation back at the factory had just got worse and that was when he blacked out.

When Steve came to, he was tied to the chair where he was now. Suddenly, a cool breeze passed by him and Steve sat up straight, straining his ears for a sound. As far as he knew, there hadn't been a breeze, so could that mean someone else was there.

Slowly, he moved his head from one side to the other, trying to catch the smallest sound. Nothing! Not a foot step, a scuff on the ground or the sound of breathing. Just that damn dipping.

Letting out the breath he was holding, Steve let his shoulders to relax. He was wrong, no one was there.

"Trying to find me, Detective Sloan?" the voice echoed around the room.

Steve couldn't answer due to the gag, but instead he sat up straight again, listening.

A small laughter echoed around the room, before the voice followed it. "How do you feel? Are you scared? Do you wonder if anyone's looking for you? Well...let me answer those questions for you. You feel dirty and sick. You ARE scared and NO! No one is looking for you. They all think you are dead. It helped, finding out that you had a twin brother made my job a lot easier."

_'Twin brother? I don't have a brother, let alone a twin.'_ Steve thought. _'This man must be crazy, but then again …'_ the image of that body on the floor of the factory entered his mind again. _'Could I have had a twin?'_

"Awe, didn't daddy tell you that you had a brother. Well, that wasn't nice was it?" Steve could hear the mockery in the voice. "Well, don't worry about it now, Harry's dead, thanks to my boss, me and of course, you."

Even though he was tired, those words gave Steve a renewed strength, mainly due to the anger growing inside of him and he started to struggle against his restraints.

"Don't hurt yourself. My bosses are on their way and they told me they wanted you unharmed."

Steve felt a sudden pain in his arm. He knew that pain well and as the effects of the needle took hold, a single tear ran from his eye as the thought of his dad, thinking that he was dead.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	7. Mark's Shameful Secret

**Chapter 7: Mark's Shameful Secret **

Mark didn't know what he was doing. First he yelled at Jesse, then Amanda and then he threatened to resign from the hospital if they didn't give him time off. He knew that all they had to go on was what the evidence had to say and right now, it said that Steve was dead.

Looking over at the body of Harry, Mark wondered if he wasn't going mad. What is the world was he thinking when he stole Harry's body from the morgue? Not only was it stupid, Amanda would have already removed every bit of evidence, but it also put Amanda's job on the line, not to mention his own.

Sitting back in the chair, Mark removed his glasses and rubbed away the tears that kept on escaping. For the first time in a long time, Mark felt alone. Really alone. The last time he felt like this was when Katherine had passed away. He had pushed everyone away then, too, including Steve and Carol.

It took a long time for him to get over that feeling and he's gone and done it again. He'd pushed Amanda and Jesse away without explaining himself and Steve is missing. Letting out a sigh, Mark thought back to that day Steve and Harry were born and what had brought them to this day.

_Mark was already at the hospital working when Katherine was brought in. It was his first year as a doctor and he was trying to do everything right, the way he was taught to do it and he was having big troubles. _

_He and Katherine were already struggling to feed themselves and he wondered how they would cope with a baby as well. Back then, fathers weren't allowed in the room when the babies were being born, so to keep him from thinking about it, Mark did his rounds. Today, he wished he had the courage to just walk in there and tell them he was staying with his wife. Maybe that way, Harry would have grown up with them._

_Mark was never told that they had twins, just a healthy baby boy, Steve. They were so happy, but he did get concerned when Katherine asked where their other child was. She explained that she was sure that she had given birth to twins, but the hospital denied that was the truth and that it was just the effects of the strain of giving birth._

_It wasn't until after Carol's birth that Mark found out the truth and did he cause trouble. First there was the inquiry, then the sackings and then the court cases and prison. By the time it all had finished, Steve was thirteen, but Mark was still determined to find his missing son and he did._

_Harry had grown up in a happy family. Yes, they had their struggles, but they were happy and still together. Mark only met and visited Harry's parents. At first they were worried that Mark was going to take Harry from them, but even Mark couldn't see the point to cause all that pain._

_At first, Mark did keep in touch, but with Katherine's death, he lost touch and when he finally recovered, he found out that Harry's parents had been killed in a car accident and Harry had gone into foster care. With no claim on Harry and Steve and Carol having trouble dealing with their mother's death, Mark had to let Harry go, but he was never forgotten. _

_From that day Harry's life got worse. All of his foster parents were harsh and uncaring. He went from one home to the next and his school work went downhill. Finally, Harry got into trouble with the law and ended up in prison. Mark had tried to help Harry. He had bailed him out of jail a few times, anonymously of course, but in the end, Mark just couldn't help anymore._

_It was because of this failure to help Harry that stopped him from ever telling Steve the truth and now, now someone had kidnapped Steve and killed Harry, leaving his body so everyone would think it was Steve._

Wiping away another tear, Mark looked at Harry's body. "Harry, what have I done?"

Suddenly, Mark heard a noise coming from outside Steve's door. Walking over, Mark tried to see if he could hear it again.

"Jesse," Amanda whispered, "what are you doing here?"

"Me! What am I doing here, what about you?"

I'm here to...to see Mark. I'm worried about him."

"So am I. So, why didn't you go through the front door?"

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't want Chief Masters' men seeing me."

"I guess we both had the same idea."

"Yeah and ..."

"Would you two like to come in?" Mark asked opening the door. Both Amanda and Jesse looked like the kid that was caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Well …?"

"Sure, Mark, thank you," Jesse replied walking in, followed by a blushing Amanda. Once in they saw Harry's body on the bed. "Man, Mark, you know that is so wrong on so many levels...Ouch." Jesse turn to Amanda who had given him a clip over the ear.

"Jesse ..."

"No Amanda, he's right. I've betrayed your trust, risked your jobs and …"

"And we should have believed you. We have the proof that the body you have is Harry, not Steve."

"Really?"

"Yes, Mark, but...but I think you need to tell us everything and we will fill you in on what's happening," Jesse said, hoping to finally get back in Mark's good books.

"Fine, but not here. Let's go upstairs and have some coffee."

With that the three friends headed upstairs.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	8. Together Again

**Chapter 8: Together Again**

It only took an hour and several cups of coffee before Amanda and Jesse had filled Mark in on what Chief Masters had planned and why. And also for Mark to tell his shameful story about Harry.

"Mark, it wasn't yours or Katherine's fault and you did your best to help Harry. We all know that sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to," Amanda said as she wrapped her arms around Mark's shoulders. She could see that he was upset about all of this.

"So, my friends, that's what happened and why I didn't tell Steve about Harry, and because of that, Harry is dead."

"That's not your fault, Mark," Jesse said as he tried to understand everything Mark had just said. "So, what do we do now?"

"For starters, we get Harry's body back to the morgue and then we go over everything we have, but this time we have Mark's help."

"Sounds like a plan," Mark agreed.

Mark was starting to feel a little bit better now, especially since his friends were back and they knew the truth and didn't hate him for it. In a way, they were right, nothing that happened to Harry was his fault, it was all in his own mind that he should have done more.

As Amanda arranged for an ambulance to pick up Harry's body and return it to the morgue, she made another fresh pot of coffee for them all. She was careful to avoid the questioning looks from the ambulance officers as she signed off on the job, then she returned to Mark and Jesse.

While Amanda was doing all of that, Jesse and Mark were sitting at the kitchen table going through all the files before them. But guilt was eating away at Mark and every so often, he would give Jesse a quickly glance. Finally, the guilt got to him and Mark put down the file he was going through.

"Jesse," Mark said and waited for the younger man to look at him. When Jesse didn't look up, Mark tried again. "Jesse, I'm sorry." This time Jesse raised his head and looked at Mark and just like suspected, Jesse eyes were full of fear and doubt.

"Have you found something, Mark?"

"No," Mark replied shaking his head.

"Then ..."

"I'm sorry, Jesse. When you came and told me that Steve was dead, I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. I know that you wouldn't have lied to me, it's just ..."

"It's ok, Mark. I understand. I didn't want it to be Steve. Hell, it killed me to have to tell you that Steve was in the morgue, but I just couldn't let someone else to do it. I saw him come in, I pronounced him dead and I was the one that took his body to the morgue. It just had to be me to tell you. I'm glad that it's not Steve and I'm sorry about Harry, but I...I just wasn't expecting you to be so angry."

Mark just shook his head. "Of course you didn't want it to be Steve. I just...I thought that you were trying to joke around and it wasn't funny. I'm sorry that I scared you and I hope that one day you can trust me again."

"Mark, I've never stopped trusting you. Sure, I'm a little scared. I've never seen you lose your temper like that before. Not even when Steve was shot and you went to prison."

"Jesse, when you are a father, or even a mother," Mark added when Amanda placed a hand on his shoulder, "you will understand what it's like. I'm not saying that you don't understand, just that, right now, you don't understand the strong feelings that a parent has."

"You might be right, Mark, I may not understand what's it's like to be a parent, but I do know what it's like and how it feels to see my best friend every time he comes into the emergency room and how I felt when I saw that body."

Mark dropped his gazes to the table and took Jesse's hand. Looking back up, Jesse could see un-shed tears in Mark's eyes. Standing up, Jesse walked around to Mark and gave him a hug. They've all just gone through an emotional time and it's still going on.

Amanda wrapped her arms around both of them and they stood there for a moment, holding on as if they were drawing strength from each other.

"Can you forgive me, Jesse?" Mark asked after they broke apart.

"No, Mark, I can't forgive you for something that doesn't need to be forgiven. We're friends. That's all there is to it."

"You're wrong, Jesse. We're not friends, we are family and now, let's find and bring home our missing member."

Jesse gave Mark and Amanda a smile. He then returned to his chair. Amanda sat down between them and they started to go through the files again.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	9. Mark Cracks Under the Pressure

**Chapter 9: Mark Cracks Under the Pressure**

Mark let out a deep sigh. He would have loved to have had a closer look at all the evidence, but all he had to go on was Amanda's records, police reports and crime scene pictures. They had been there for hours and it didn't seem like they were getting anywhere. Rubbing his hand through his hair and then over his face, Mark excused himself before heading to the bathroom.

"Do you think Mark is going to be ok?" Jesse asked as he watched Mark disappear.

"I don't know," Amanda replied as she shook her head. "But I do know that he will be a lot better when we find Steve."

"You're right," and with that they started to go through the files again.

Mark used the toilet and then washed his hands. Standing at the washbasin, he looked hard at his reflection. He looked old. Sure, he was up in the age count, but he looked way older then he really was. Another thing he had noticed was, he looked tired, drained of energy and his skin was pale.

"Steve, look at what you've done to me?" Mark mumbled at the mirror. "They say that children make you go old before your time, but this is ridiculous." Shaking his head, Mark took a handful of water and splashed it over his face. "Damn it, Steve. Where are you?"

Taking a few deep breathes, Mark looked back up into the mirror, but this time he didn't see his own face. It was Steve looking back at him. Steve's face and eyes were twisted in pain and blood ran down his cheek. In his eyes, along with the pain was confusion and Steve was struggling against whatever was holding him.

The next thing Mark knew was that Steve was mouthing something, but he could hear every word in his mind. _'I don't know what you are talking about. Who is Harry? What do you want? What have you done, Dad? DAD, HELP ME!'_ And as the voice when on, the louder it got.

Covering his ears, Mark called out, "STOP IT! PLEASE, STEVE, WE ARE GOING TO FIND YOU, JUST STOP IT!" Stumbling backwards, Mark tripped on the bath mat and came crashing down.

Hearing Mark call out, both Jesse and Amanda came rushing to check on him. They were shocked to find Mark on the bathroom floor holding his head.

"MARK! Amanda shouted as she rushed to his side, nearly knocking Jesse over in her rush. Reaching her friend, Amanda knelt down in front of him and with a quieter voice she asked, "Mark, are you alright?"

"Amanda?" Mark looked up at her, confusion in his eyes as if he didn't understand what she was doing there. Looking past Amanda, Mark noticed Jesse also standing there, worry etched across his face. "What, Jesse, you too, what's going on?"

"Mark, did you hit your head?"

"No, Amanda, I...I don't think so."

"Here, let me check. Jesse," Amanda said as she turned to look at him. "Why don't you go and clean up the mess on the kitchen table for Mark."

"The mess?" Jesse looked at Amanda confused, but when she gave him that wide eyed look he remembered what was on the kitchen table and realised what she meant. "Right!" Jesse said standing up straight. "I'll go and clean up the kitchen table." He gave Mark one more worrying look before he stiffly walked away.

"Is Jesse feeling ..."

"He's fine, Mark. Now, let's get you up off this floor."

Mark looked around him and realised that Amanda was right, he was sitting on the floor and to make it worse, his bathroom floor._ 'Did I fall over?'_ Mark thought to himself as Amanda helped him up. She then helped him to sit on the toilet seat. "Amanda, why are you here?"

"Jesse and I were coming over to see you and we heard you calling out. Worried, we came to see if you were ok and we found you on the floor. What do you remember?"

"I'm...not sure. Something is nagging at the back of my mind, but...but I just can't grasp it."

"Well, leave it; when it's ready it will come to you. Now, let me check your head ad make sure you didn't hit it."

Mark sat still, thinking, while Amanda checked out his head. He knew something was going on, but he wasn't sure. He just had this funny feeling that it had to do with Steve and where he was.

"Amanda, where is Steve?" Mark felt his friend stiffen at his question.

"Steve?"

"Steve, my son...the homicide detective...your friend. Where is he?"

"Work," Amanda felt terrible lying to Mark, but she didn't think he could take the truth right now and in a way, it was the truth, if by chance Steve had been kidnapped because of a case he was or had worked on.

"Do you know when he will be back?" 

"No, I think he's doing an undercover job. Well, it doesn't look like you hit your head, so that's good, but then what made you fall?" Amanda asked looking Mark straight in the eyes.

"He could see that she was hiding something from him, but what. "I'm fine, must have tripped on the mat," he answered pointing at the said mat.

Amanda let out a long sigh. She was worried before about Mark, but now she was getting scared. "Maybe you were just tired. After all, that is why you asked for time off and Madison agreed to give it to you."

"I did... she did, ok, I know I feel tired."

"Well than, let's get you to bed and I will stay the night just to keep an eye on you. Okay?"

"Sure," Mark agreed. He was still confused though.

Just then Jesse popped his head around the door frame. "The table is cleaned off. So, Mark, how are you?"

"Apparently, tired." He watched as confusion mixed with worry flashed across Jesse's face, "But don't worry, Jesse. Nothing a good-night's sleep won't cure.

"Ok." Jesse stepped aside and let Amanda lead Mark to his bedroom. He then waited until she returned and then they headed back to the kitchen.

"Amanda, what happened?"

"I think Mark had a breakdown. He doesn't know about Steve and I told him that Steve was on an undercover job and that Madison gave him time off because he was tired."

"Well, we better fill Madison in, and Chief Masters, just in case Mark tries to contact them."

"Good idea. You take Chief Masters and I will tell Madison.

"Right." Jesse started to head out to the patio, but just before he reached the doors he turned back to face Amanda. "Hey, that means I get to tell Chief Masters that we broke our promise to him."

Amanda just gave Jesse a sweet smile before turning away. "Madison, we have a problem."

Shrugging his shoulders, Jesse headed outside to make his call.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	10. Hot Coffee

**Chapter 10: Hot Coffee**

"Madison, we have a problem." As soon as those words entered her ear, Madison was worried.

What could go wrong that hasn't already? Steve Sloan is missing. His twin brother has been murdered and there was no way to tell their father, Mark, that his friends know the truth and that he isn't crazy with grief. So what else could go wrong?

"What is, Amanda?"

"Firstly, as we speak, Jesse is making this same call to Chief Masters. Secondly, I think Mark has had a nervous breakdown from all the stress."

"How...what did you and Jesse do?"

"I'm sorry, but we couldn't just lie to Mark and let him think that we thought he was crazy. Both Jesse and I went to see him, but when we got here Mark had already started to question himself as to what the hell he was doing. We got talking and he explained to us what had happened all those years ago and why he had never told us. I then organised for Harry's body to be sent back to the morgue."

"So what is the problem?" Even though Madison's voice was steady, Amanda could still hear the worry and frustration in her voice.

"Well, I just put Mark to bed. He had just gone into the bathroom when Jesse and I heard what sounded like Mark had fallen over. When we checked, he was on the floor, but ..."

"But...what?"

"Mark thinks Steve is on an undercover job."

"What?"

"He doesn't remember what's happened. He thinks that Steve is away because of a case and for us to stop him asking question, I told him that you gave him time off because he was tired."

"And he accepted that?"

"Seems so, but...if he ..."

"If he rings me I will tell him that I gave him time off, don't worry. But what do we do now?"

"I guess it's up to us to find Steve without Mark finding out."

Amanda waited for Madison to reply, but all she was hearing were heavy sighs. Finally, Madison answered. "I guess so. When you are ready to meet up, let me know."

"I will. Good night, Madison," Amanda replied and after Madison wished her a goodnight, Amanda hung up. While she waited for Jesse, Amanda put the coffee on.

Outside on the patio Jesse wasn't having much luck getting through to Chief Masters. As he dialled the number again, he let out a sigh and as he listened to the ring tone, Jesse thought about how he got to where he is today.

After all, it's not normal for a doctor to get involved with solving crimes, let alone, murders. But since he met Mark, Steve and Amanda, that's what he's been doing. God, how his mother would kill him if she ever found out, but he can't say that his life is boring.

As a voice comes down the receiver, Jesse is brought back to the present. "Chief Masters."

"Chief Master, it's Doctor Travis here."

"Yes, Doctor Travis, what can I do for you?"

"Well, mostly, I would like it that you don't bite my head off and ..."

"What have you done?" Jesse didn't like the sound of Chief Masters voice.

"Well, it wasn't just me, Amanda did it too."

"You both went and saw Doctor Sloan, right?"

"Yes, but there is good news and bad news."

"What is the good news?"

"Well, Harry's body is back at the morgue and Amanda and I have mended our friendship with Mark."

"If that is the good news, what is the bad?"

"It looks like Mark has had a breakdown."

"Looks like?"

"Yeah, we were talking and he went to the bathroom. We heard a sound and when he got there, Mark was on the floor, but...he doesn't remember what has happened."

"If he doesn't remember what is going on. What does he think is happening?"

"Mark thinks that Steve is on an undercover case and that Madison gave him time off because he looks tired."

"I guess that will keep him out of harm's way for now," Jesse could hear the frustration in the Chief's voice. Can we met up somewhere?"

"How about Bob's in the morning?"

"Sounds good. I will leave it up to you to tell Doctor Bentley and Doctor Wesley.

"I will. Goodnight, Chief Masters."

"Doctor Travis." With that, Jesse heard him hang up.

Letting out a sigh of relief, since that call went better than he expected, Jesse headed back inside.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city a TV screen flickered and a groggy Steve watched as his friend Jesse walked back inside the beach house. The TV flickered again and now Steve could see and hear Jesse talking to Amanda about the plans that had been made with his Chief.

Steve watched as Amanda called Madison back to let her know what was going on and then she left to check up on Mark, while Jesse poured them both another cup of coffee.

"Would you like a coffee, Detective Sloan?" The voice was full of mockery. Steve knew that they had no plans to give him a drink of anything and he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of answering. "No! Are you sure?" The voice continued as the man held a cup of hot coffee under Steve's nose.

He tried to resist. He tried not to lick his lips, but he was so tired and so thirsty. As soon as his tongue moved across his top lip, Steve regretted it, as his head was pulled back by his hair and the boiling hot coffee was forced down his throat. Steve sputtered for air. The coffee burned his face, tongue and throat.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught Jesse and Amanda sitting down, carefully sipping their hot coffee as they talked, and a single tear escaped and ran down his cheek.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	11. A connection Made

**Chapter 11: A Connection Made**

Jesse made his way to Bob's early the next morning. He made coffee and reheated some of the left over ribs from the night before. By the time everyone had arrived, the coffee and food were hot and ready.

Madison was the first to arrive, followed by Chief Masters and then Amanda. There was some small talk while everyone, except Chief Masters, grabbed some food, coffee and took their seats. But once everyone was settled the conversations turned to the matter at hand.

"Before we get too far into this, how is Doctor Sloan?" Chief Masters asked. Although he wasn't showing any emotion, they all knew he was worried about Mark, and Steve, too.

"He's...okay, for now," Amanda replied. "I gave him a sedative before I left and he should be asleep for a while. I just can't believe that he could shut down like this. Especially since Steve needs him."

Madison gave Amanda's hand a squeeze. She knew how close Amanda and Mark were and couldn't imagine what the young doctor was going through.

"Mark's body, his mind. is doing this to protect him. It's not like he is trying to abandon Steve, and I'm sure he will recover once Steve is back safe and sound. Right?" Madison said looking straight at Jesse.

"Yeah, sure he will be. We will get Steve back and Mark will be back with us too."

"The question is, how do we get Steve back without his kidnappers knowing that we know he's still alive?"

"I don't know and we have no idea where to start," Madison replied.

"But I do!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...when I got Harry's body back to the morgue I found some interesting things. Like the dirt under his fingernails wasn't dirt, but a grease of some sort. I sent it in to be analysed and I'm still waiting on the results."

"Well that's a start, but why wasn't this picked up in the first autopsy?"

"That was easy, Chief. Everyone was sure Steve had died when the fireworks factory exploded. No one expected to look for murder."

"True. Anything else?" Chief Masters asked as he thought about how many other murders got missed just on assumption.

"He was beaten, badly," Amanda added as she passed around some photos. The bruises that I've circled, pre-dated death."

"So he was beaten, murdered, frozen, defrosted and then blown up, all for the point to kidnap Steve. It seems so...overkill and yet, we still have no idea why?" Jesse said more to himself than the others as he went over the pictures. "Chief, can I see the others that are missing?"

"Sure."

Jesse took the file off Chief Masters and started to flip through the pictures of the missing men. There seemed to be nothing that connected them, other than they were all around the same age and then it hit him. It was like Steve had been standing right next to him and as soon as he saw it, Steve had punched him in the arm.

"I don't think all of these missing men have to do with Steve. In fact..." Jesse added as he pulled out five pictures, "these are the only ones to do with Steve."

"Why is that?" Chief Masters asked, curious as to what the young doctor saw that his trained detectives didn't.

"It's simple, they all have the same tattoo as Steve. They were all in the same platoon in the army."

"How didn't we see that?" Chief Masters said as he picked up the pictures. It was easy to see that the tattoos were all the same. Each one was the same as Sloan's and how often had he heard the detective tell someone about how that one was just for his platoon. "So this has something to do with his army days. You know, now that we know this, this case may be taken out of our hands."

"Yeah, but at least we know that Mark should be safe now," Amanda added.

Meanwhile, back at the beach house, Mark felt hands under his arms. Thinking it was Amanda and Jesse, he helped them to help him up. His two assistants then helped Mark down the hallway, out the front door and into a waiting van.

"Wher...where are we go...ing?" Mark's words were slurred, still groggy from the sedative that Amanda had given him.

"It's alright, Doctor Sloan. We are taking you to see your son Steve."

"Why? He's...he's at work."

"Yes, yes he is and he needs your help. He needs you. Otherwise, Steve is going to die."

"No! No... Steve. I can't lose Steve as well. I ..." Mark's words were cut off as the cloth soaked in chloroform was placed across his mouth and nose.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	12. Photographs and Red Dots

**Chapter 12: Photographs and Red Dots.**

"Mark! Are you here?" Amanda's voice echoed around the beach house.

"He couldn't still be sleeping, could he?" Jesse asked as he put down the food containers.

"I didn't give him that much sedative. I'll just go and check on him."

While Amanda headed down to Mark's bedroom, Jesse grabbed a few plates and started to set the table, but stopped when he heard his name being called.

"Jesse!"

"Amanda, what's wrong?" he called back as he wiped his hands on a tea-towel and headed towards Mark's room.

"He's gone, Jesse!" Amanda replied as she met him halfway down the hall. "Mark…he's gone."

"What ..." Jesse pushed himself past Amanda to have a look. Mark's room was messy as if there had been a struggle. "We need to call Chief Masters," Jesse said as he pulled out his phone.

Half an hour later, Chief Masters, along with police officers and a forensics crew, was at the beach house. While the rest did their jobs looking for clues, Chief Masters questioned Amanda and Jesse.

"So what happened?"

"We don't know," Jesse replied.

"We brought lunch and was going to have it with Mark. When he didn't respond, I went to check on him and found the bedroom like that. Mark wouldn't have ..."

"He'll be fine, Amanda. Mark is strong and clever, and... we will find him, right Chief?"

"We will do our best, Doctor Travis, Doctor Bentley. We need to know when this happened."

"Hello, anyone in there?"

"Who's that?" Chief Masters asked as he moved towards the back-door. Amanda and Jesse followed, shrugging their shoulders. Greeting the man at the door, Chief Masters asked his question again. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tom, Tom Green. I live a few houses up. Doctor Sloan loaned me this bowl the other day and I'm returning it. Since I saw that Doctor Sloan had gone out earlier, I thought his son might be home."

"What do you mean, Doctor Sloan went out earlier, Mr. Green?"

"I saw a few men helping Doctor Sloan into a car around...nine this morning. Why, has something happened?" Mr. Green asked when he noticed all the police in the house.

"Doctor Sloan is missing and if there is anything you can tell us about the car or persons that took him …."

"Do you mind, Doctor Travis," Chief Masters snapped.

"Look, Mark is missing and I don't care what you have to say. If we hadn't listened to you in the first place and let Mark think we didn't believe him, he might be safe right now."

"Can you give a description of the car or men, Mr. Green?" Chief Masters asked, dismissing Jesse's outburst.

"I can do better than that."

"How?"

"Well, Doctor Bentley, I was taking photographs this morning. That's how I saw them taking Dr. Sloan. I got a good shot of them too."

"Great," Jesse cheered before backing away when Chief Masters looked at him again.

"I will send this officer to take you home and get all the photos you have. Thank you, Mr. Green."

"Anything for Doctor Sloan," Mr. Green replied as he passed the bowl over to Jesse.

"At least we have a start now," Chief Masters said as he left Amanda and Jesse to go and check on the forensics crew that was working in the bedroom.

"What do you think Amanda, too easy?"

"A little bit. What would be the chances of someone getting photos of Mark being kidnapped and not call the police."

"Or being seen?"

"I just hope this isn't a waste of time." Amanda finished off, just as her pager went off. "I've got to call the hospital." She then left Jesse and walked out onto the beach.

Meanwhile, somewhere else, someone was watching through the video feed.

"I don't know how you missed him, but get those photos and kill Mr. Green."

"Yes, sir," Two men replied before taking off.

Jesse wandered around looking at what the officers were doing and being told to get away. So he did. Sitting down on the couch, Jesse closed his eyes and lent his head back. Taking a deep breath, he let out a small prayer that they could find something to help them. When he opened his eyes and they focused, he could see a small red flashing dot in the air vent.

"Chief Masters!"

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story**


	13. Cameras, Receives and Keys

**Chapter 13: Cameras, Receivers and Keys**

"What is it, Doctor Travis?" Even though the Chief had snapped at him, Jesse knew that it was more to do with frustration than him actually calling him.

I'm sure that doesn't belong there," Jesse replied as he pointed to the air-vent.

Chief Masters followed the young doctor's finger to see a flashing red dot. "Someone get Jerry Creed down here, now!"

As they waited for Creed to arrive, they watched as the forensics crew took off the air-vest's cover and carefully dusted the area for fingers prints. By the time they had finished, Jerry Creed had arrived and set up his equipment.

He took down the small flashing red light, scrunching up his face as he examined it. Without looking, he reached down, picking up a small device. Turning it on, he waved it over his hand and... nothing happened. Turning a few knobs, he did it again and again, until the device let out a low- pitched squeal.

"Here, Chief," he said as he passed Chief Masters the device. "Have someone wave this over everything that could hide a bug and it should make that sound if there is one there."

"Patterson, you heard Creed. Do it!"

"Yes, Sir," Officer Patterson replied as he took the device out of the Chief's hand before disappearing.

"What can you tell me?"

"Well Chief, whoever put this here knew what they were doing and ..." Creed looked at Jesse and Amanda, who had just join them, before he continued. "I doubt I could track this."

"What do you mean?" Jesse's voice was a little strained from all the stress. "That's a listening device, right? So you track back to wherever the receiver is."

"It's not that simple and... this is more than a listening device. It's also a video camera. Which is sending feedback right now."

"So they could be watching us right now?" Amanda shook her head, concerned that they have given away everything about their plans.

"Yes and no. They could be, or it is just going to a computer and being recorded. The point is, where it is sending to is close, but the problem with that is, it could be in a car, which could drive away. Also, just because the receiver is close, doesn't mean that receiver isn't boosting the signal and send it on to a different location."

"In other words, even though the bug is here and the receiver is close, it could be the first in many and we won't be able to track them all."

"Right and ..."

"Sir," Turning around they found Officer Patterson standing there. Chief Masters nodded and Patterson continued. "We've found at least two bugs in each room. More if the room is a large one, like this one."

"I'm going to hate saying this, but the more the better to give me a chance to trace back to at least the first receiver."

"Do it!"

Steve stared at the image of Jesse, Amanda and Chief Masters on the screen. He could see that they had started to make headways and hopefully will be on their way to rescue him. A commotion near the door had Steve gritting his teeth in pain as he tried to see what was going on.

"Looks like we need to up our game, Steve. Tell me where they are?"

"Go to hell. I was told not to give them to anyone, just to leave them to someone from the platoon that is still alive in my will."

"Then we have a problem. There is only you, me and Kent left. So save time, give me the keys."

"No!"

Steve shivered when the man before him smiled. "Bring him forward."

Confused, Steve looked at the darkness behind the man he once called friend. The form of an old man shot out, falling beside his chair. "Dad! You monster, leave him alone," Steve spat through gritted teeth.

"Now Steve, that is all up to you. We will leave you alone with your...daddy to think. When we come back, if you don't tell us where the keys are, you will watch as we torture," the man pointed at Mark, "him."

The room was filled with an eerie laughter as the men walked out and then it was silent again. Only now, the room was flooded in full light and Steve could see they were now being held in some sort of cellar. There weren't any windows and only the one door in or out.

"Steve? What's going on?"

Concerned, Steve looked at his dazed and confused father.

"I'm sorry, Dad. But I think I've just gotten us both killed."

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	14. The Army Takes over

**Chapter 14: The Army Takes over  
****  
**"Steve, I don't understand. Where...where are we? What do you mean you've got us killed?"

"Damn it, Dad. Come on. I need you to shake this."

"Okay, Steve," Mark responded as he tried to focus his eyes. He sat up straight, took a deep breath and then started to shake. "Is that good enough?" Mark added before falling down to the ground laughing.

Steve really could use his dad's way of thinking right now, but with the sleeping medication which Amanda had given Mark, along with the chloroform, there was no way he was going to be of any good help right now. Steve didn't know what to do. He knew that they were dead if he handed over the keys, but if he didn't, they were going to torture his dad. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

'Come on! Surely I can think of something. What would my dad do?" Just then, the answer formed in his mind. Steve only hoped Amanda would realise what was going on.

"Your time's up, Sloan." Steve's stared at his ex-commanding officer. "So what is it? The keys or is your father going to pay the price for your stubbornness?"

"Go to hell. If I give you the keys, you're still going to kill us. Just like you killed Harry."

"You are so right. I couldn't believe it when I came across your twin. Although, I'm surprised you knew he existed."

"My father never kept it from me."

"How sweet! You and your daddy having such a close relationship. It's so close, I can't believe you would let him go through all the pain I'm going to inflict on him."

The voices were spinning around Mark's throbbing head. Opening his eyes, the room was spinning like a roulette wheel. Clenching his eyes tight, Mark tried to push down the nausea, but all was forgotten as a hand grasped his hair and yanked back his head. Followed by some cold metal against his neck.

"Well, what is it?"

Meanwhile, back at Chief Masters office.

"I can't believe that the army is taking this case over. It's not like the missing men, or Steve, are still in their services."

"But the two men that are still alive and their whereabouts known, are still in the army. They might be the next victims or even a suspect." Chief Masters was also angry they had lost the case, but he knew it was coming.

"I'm just upset that we won't be allowed to stay working on the case to find them."

"What makes you think I won't use you to help me?" The three turned around to find Warrant Officer Hannah Bernstein standing in the doorway. "And as for the other two, they are missing. They have been AWOL for the last two weeks."

"Warrant Officer Bernstein, nice to see you again." As usual, Chief Masters's voice, and expression, didn't show it, but he was relieved it was someone they knew and trusted that had been sent.

"Thank you, Chief Masters. Now, what do you have and I will show you what I have."

They spread out the photos they had and explained what Jesse had noticed about the men that were in the army with Steve. They also show the photos they had received from Mr. Green.

"We also have these two men in the cells. They tried to kill Mr. Green."

"So, what do you have?" Jesse added.

"Well, these men you have in the cells are two privates that went missing over three months ago."

"Around the same time the first victim was killed," Amanda pointed out.

"Yes it was. This man," Warrant Officer Bernstein said as she pointed at one of the men, "is Lieutenant Jeff Walters. He was Steve's Unit Commander. This other man is Sergeant Mel Hughes, Lieutenant Walters's Platoon Sergeant."

"So they are connected?" Jesse whispered as he sat down. "What will they do to Steve and Mark?"

"If they are responsible for these other men's death, I'm sorry but ..."

"Then we need to find them now." Amanda snapped, not wanting to hear what will happen if they don't.

"I agree, have the two in your cells given you anything, Chief?"

"No!"

"Well, that's not true," Jesse shrugged. "They've given us their names, rank and number. Plus, that they are in the army and we can't question them."

"So they haven't given up anything?" Warrant Officer Bernstein watched as the others shook their heads. "Any ideas then?"

The looks on their faces answered her question before silence fell between them. After a minute, Amanda felt her phone vibrating. Pulling it out, she looked at the screen. At first she was confused, but as Amanda realised what she was looking at, she smiled.

"Looks like Steve is trying to help us," And with that, Amanda show them her phone.

A few moments earlier.

"Fine, I'll give you the keys. They're in a lock-box at a bank. I will give you everything you need to access it, just don't hurt my Dad anymore."

"You have made the right choice, Sloan. Once we have the keys, I promise that your death, and your dad's, will be quick and painless."

Steve nodded his understanding before he started giving them the information they needed.

**Thank you for reading my story**


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